


Just Who I Need/Just What I Need

by WhatMoreIsThereToSay



Category: GOT7
Genre: Blind Date, Fluff, M/M, Mistaken Identity, idk what else things happen its cute, namjin if you squint, side JB/Junior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-22 16:34:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7446145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatMoreIsThereToSay/pseuds/WhatMoreIsThereToSay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark has some lofty dreams about how relationships work, but then again Mark hasn't been sleeping well lately. Maybe he'll find some balance somewhere he was not expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Who I Need

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies, I've had this one done for a while. I decided to just post it and not going back over it or do any further editing so forgive any mistakes <3  
> Enjoy!

Lately, a series of long days seemed to fall into short nights, restless nights where thoughts and words left tracks all over Mark’s mind that he couldn’t seem to erase. They wouldn’t form themselves into lyrics or poems or paragraphs, so instead he started a notebook of just lines, just strings of words that sounded good together. He blamed it on being too busy at work, or on being not busy enough depending on the day. He’d wake up with heavy eyelids and a crumpled page underneath his body or on his chest. Once or twice, he’d woken to find a forgotten pen had left lines on his body and his sheets after he’d fallen asleep. How did so many people seem to find it so easy to sleep all night and wake up refreshed in the morning? No, he simply didn’t work like that.

  
That’s not to say he was always tired or groggy-- he got enough sleep to function like any other normal person. He just wasn’t overly energetic, and when his day was over or his meetings were done, he didn’t have much energy left. He was naturally quiet, even before the pseudo-insomnia thing arose, so not many people questioned it.  
JB, on the other hand, slept fine. He was just as quiet, and they got along really well because of it. They were both soft-spoken, JB in a more professional and serious way than Mark, who was more often described as ‘sweet,’ ‘cute,’ and ‘shy.’ JB was a mediator, knowing when to interject into a conversation or a situation and how to fix things. Mark could mediate, but he was generally more subtle about it, steering people away from one thing or towards another.

  
They understood each other’s soft spoken sass, their under-the-breath teasing, sometimes in the most severe voices that sounded downright angry, but they could always tell with each other. They knew when to stop and when to apologize if their grumpiness went too far, but lately that was… different. Mark had a shorter temper, he’d been less accepting of JB’s kidding and much more likely turn away grumbling instead of shooting back his normal witty responses.

  
I didn’t help that JB always teased that Mark would sleep if he wasn’t so lonely all the time. It was annoying, being spoken to like he was a bachelor or something, like JB was older than him just because he was in an sappy, domestic relationship. Mark dated on and off, nothing serious and nothing that required commitment. He wanted to be with someone as much as anyone his age, but not just anyone. He wanted someone who would balance him out, bring things into his life he didn’t know he was missing. It was an incredibly romantic notion, probably a bit ridiculous and Hollywood-cliche, but that’s what he wanted and he was fine waiting for it. For now.  
Begrudgingly, he let JB set him up with a few people, just to appease his friend (and by extension, JB’s boyfriend Jinyoung who ended up supplying the aforementioned people from his extensive list of single colleagues). None of those dates morphed into anything more. Most of the conversation was about work, about music and writing and what he did. They’d seen some of his work, of course, and heard songs that he had written on the radio, but they never... clicked.

  
Mark didn’t realize how bad he was at dating until he and what Jinyoung had taken to calling his “flavor of the weekend” were walking out of the restaurant and to his car. Mark had walked from his apartment just a couple blocks away and he’d turned Minhyuk down when the man had offered a ride home. Minhyuk had looked down, smiling at his hands and chuckling lightly.

  
“You know, you’ve dated like half of our office.” Minhyuk said, fingers fiddling with his keys. “Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t bother me or anything, you being bi or you dating the people I work with or whatever. It’s just, I was kind of forewarned going into this.” He said softly.

  
“Forewarned?” Mark asked, eyes widening. He’d thought the date was pretty average, nothing new and definitely no clicking, but he didn’t think it had gone badly. Apparently his face showed the inner turmoil he had going on because Minhyuk immediately reached out, backtracking.

  
“No, no, nothing bad. It’s just, like they all said: you know what you want and you’re not good at hiding when we aren’t it..” He said, his hand resting on Mark’s forearm as he spoke. “It’s nothing bad, it’s just… you seem disappointed.”

  
He considered that, eyes on Minhyuk’s hand before moving forward to kiss him softly. As surprised as Minhyuk must have been (Mark didn’t kiss any of the other people Jinyoung had set him up with so this would be a new piece of juicy workplace gossip for them) he reacted quickly and politely. He kissed Mark back, moving just a little closer and bringing his hand to Mark’s cheek.

  
The kiss wasn’t prolonged, but it wasn’t just a peck. Mark pulled away first and on his face was an expression Minhyuk could only describe as determined.

  
“You don’t feel it either, see.” Mark said simply, pursing his lips, and Minhyuk smiled. He and Jinyoung weren’t close but the man had warned him about Mark’s obsession with this fairytale spark of romance. He’d been thinking about it ever since.

  
“You’re right, but why are you so sure there has to be a spark or fireworks or whatever? What if a kiss is just a kiss?” It was more teasing than serious. The two of them wouldn’t really work out, not in the long term-- Minhyuk knew that. Mark needed his spark, but he hoped they would be friends and that maybe he’d be around when Mark found that spark. He was just as much of a sucker for fairytales as the rest of them.

  
“If there’s no spark, what’s the point?”

  
Minhyuk had conceded that point, throwing his hands up and bidding Mark adieu with a friendly kiss on the cheek.

  
And that was the last time Mark let Jinyoung set him up, making excuses about being busy or tired or not interested. To be honest, he wasn’t mad about being the topic of gossip for Jinyoung’s workplace but he didn’t want to perpetuate it. And for the moment he was content, or at least he told himself as much.

 

Spring was starting and Mark was tired of his routine. Going out a couple time a week was fun for a while, but things got busy at the end of the year and they hadn’t slowed down until halfway through March. He’d been living off instant rice and takeout and whatever he could make and eat quickly before he passed out at night, exhausted. As things at work started slowing down again, he felt his sanity returning. After a full night of sleep and an almost too slow Friday, Mark returned home to find his kitchen devoid of things he could make into an actual meal. At some point he’d run out of seemingly everything and he wasn’t in the mood to grocery shop. Armed with that and the knowledge that his trash can was practically overflowing with takeout containers, he picked up his keys and told himself that eating out wasn’t the same as takeout.

  
As he walked into his favorite restaurant (the combination of good food and the place being just a block away from his apartment was unbeatable), he made eye contact with a man sitting across the room, looking more than a little despondent. The man looked at him with something-- anticipation maybe or hope. Mark tried to brush the encounter off with a polite smile. The guy was hot, bleached blonde hair styled perfectly. He was dressed, from what Mark could see, in a blazer and button down-- formal compared to Mark’s plain black hoodie and t-shirt. But the guy looked interested in him, focused on Mark’s every step as he worked his way slowly towards the hostess’ booth. He reached a moment too late for his phone, hoping to communicate through the standoffish power of pretending to text that he wasn’t interested in making--

  
And just like that, this guy was on his feet in front of Mark, grinning like he’d won the lottery.

  
“Hi, wow, I didn’t think you were going to come.” The guy said, flashing a million-watt grin that Mark didn’t know what to do with. “I’m Jackson. I’d like to say Namjoon has told me all about you but he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  
Mark opened his mouth to say something, to try and correct the guy, but he didn’t know how to respond. Before he could start, Jackson was holding a hand out for him to shake, so he took it.

  
“Yeah, I’m Mark. Look, I think-” He began, but Jackson was already talking over him.

  
“Let’s sit down, okay? Tell me a little about yourself because, like I said, Namjoon didn’t tell me anything.” Jackson was sliding back into the seat he had before and Mark glanced back at the front of the restaurant before sitting down as well.

  
“About that, I don’t really… know Namjoon.” Mark began, and Jackson was off and gone again.

  
“Really? Well, he said you were a good guy and he didn’t say much else. You know, he’s kind of philosophical about everything, he said it wouldn’t be good if I knew anything about you. Truly blind dates, no preconceptions means no misconceptions or something, I don’t really know. But I’m glad we’re doing this I guess.”

  
Mark just sat there, blinking at Jackson as he rambled, then picked up a menu and rambled about each menu item, practically about each word on the entire menu. And Mark had to admit, it was kind of cute.

  
“Jackson... Jackson? Jackson.”

  
It took a couple times for him to register Mark saying his name as he discussed the listed ingredients in Japchae, but he looked up with wide eyes when Mark reached across the table and grabbed the menu out of his hands.

  
“Jackson,” He began, only to be cut off.

  
“Is something wrong? Am I talking too much?”

  
“Yes!” The other’s face fell and Mark found himself backpedaling quickly. “No, no, you’re not talking too much it’s just… Okay. I don’t know Namjoon- No! Stop, let me explain.” He felt the urge to reach over and completely cover Jackson’s mouth so he couldn’t interrupt again, but folded up the menu instead to keep his hands busy.

  
“Jackson. You seem like a great guy, a really great guy, but I don’t know anybody named Namjoon. Also, I’m not here because I was set up on a blind date. I don’t generally dress like this for dates.” He said, gesturing down to his jeans and hoodie and then letting his hands fall into his lap. He paused, waiting for Jackson to start talking again, and instead waited in silence.

  
Jackson looked down at his phone, unlocking it and reading the time. 7:45. His date, a skinny, taller-than-him guy that Namjoon knew from the gym, was almost 2 hours late by now. And not only that but the guy sitting in front of him was most certainly not Namjoon’s mystery man. Jackson was enjoying himself, a bit nervous hence all the rambling about menu items, but Mark seemed like everything he wanted his unknown date to be. He nodded every once in awhile, encouraging Jackson on with whatever subject he was on. The amused facial expressions he made now and then were funny. When Jackson made a joke or just said something weird, one corner of his mouth would tick up just a tiny bit, but it was encouraging! And he had sat there for almost half an hour, just listening, acting pretty interested or so Jackson had thought. (Mark, meanwhile, didn’t know he was doing any of this. Perhaps he was too distracted trying to figure out how to break it to this guy that he got stood up.) Jackson was convinced he was on one of the better dates he’d had recently, and now he realized that instead he’d been… rejected? forgotten about?

  
And he looked really dumb, didn’t he? He must have looked so dumb, rambling about vegetables. And he must look really dumb right now, he realized, as he had just gone off into his own world, staring at his now-dark phone screen for God knows how long.

  
“I am,” He began, looking back up at Mark, who still had that stupid amused expression. “So sorry. I had no idea, I haven’t given you two seconds to talk have I? I’m sorry, you weren’t meeting anybody here, were you? You didn’t have plans?”

  
For the first time, Jackson paused and waited for Mark’s answer causing Mark to do a double take, clearing his throat gently and then shaking his head.  
“No, nobody. I was actually just coming to get food. Alone.”

  
“Oh, okay. Eating alone can be fun, I guess. Peace and quiet, I guess I interrupted all of that.” Mark had a feeling there wasn’t a lot of peace and quiet with Jackson around, in any situation.

  
“It’s okay, really. No harm, no foul. Do you, uh, want to call your date then? Make sure he’s okay?” Jackson’s hand went to his phone and hovered over it.

  
“I will later, I think I’m just going to grab take out and go home. This has been…” He didn’t bother to finish that sentence, the tense awkwardness was kind of obvious.

  
“Oh.”

  
Mark felt the urge to fill the silence, like the lack Jackson’s voice created a vacuum. He didn’t want to eat alone. Part of him thought that’s why he sat through Jackson’s analysis of cauliflower versus broccoli in terms of vegetable quality. He was only beginning to realize that he’d sat through 30 minutes of listening to Jackson talk with just a brief interlude for ordering their food. He liked Jackson’s voice, he liked how he could talk about anything and it seemed interesting. Jackson intrigued him, something that had been missing on all those other dates. They’d all been interesting and conversational and fun, but he’d never been as entertained listening to them describe their passion for music or whatever else as he was listening to Jackson talk about broccoli for fuck’s sake! Jackson had an energy about him, a… spark. He paused in whatever mental journey he had been on and thought for a second.

  
“What did I order?”

  
It wasn’t the direction Jackson was expecting Mark to take the conversatio but he plucked the menu from Mark’s hands and opened it, pointing to number twelve.  
“Bulgogi Bibimbap.” The shorter read aloud, pushing the menu back across the table. “I’ve had it here, it’s really good, but I’m sure you could still change it.” He said, glancing over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

  
“No, no it’s fine. That’s what I usually get here I just…” He paused again, glancing down at Jackson’s phone as he asked, “Would you like to have dinner with me?”

 


	2. Just What I Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second half, Jackson's POV!! I love writing in Jackson's voice he's so much fun <3  
> Enjoy!!

If you asked Jackson’s mother, he dated too much. That was a recent development though-- a year ago, Jackson didn’t date enough. She was constantly calling him and telling him to ‘find a nice boy’ and ‘settle down with a good husband before you get too old.’ Granted he was barely 22 and fresh out of college with a degree in Dance and still paying his dues in the industry. Between long hours of choreographing and putting in extra time for solo projects, trying to get a feel for working in the real world instead of in a college studio. Pop music trends changed a lot faster than his professors’ assignments ever had and clients were always looking for new routines to the newest songs on the radio. He was busy, too busy for ‘a nice boy,’ he told his mother. 

Except the idea started sounding nice the more he thought about it. She stopped bringing it up constantly, only dropping hints here and there about the Park’s son getting married to a sweet boy he’d met in school, and that’s nice isn’t it dear? But the less she talked about it, the more Jackson noticed people at the office with framed pictures of their spouses and people in restaurants who were obviously stupid in love with each other. And damn it, Namjoon and his adorable boyfriend Jin were always being gross and crazy about each other all over the place when all Jackson wanted to do was live his life alone with his music. Everybody was in love, even his studio’s owner (who had recently been persuaded to let Jackson call him hyung at work) had a girlfriend that Jackson had met when she brought his boss lunch one day.

Jackson soon found out that he was very good at dates but not very good at dating. He went out a couple times with a guy from the gym, who quickly told Jackson that he was too exhausting. He couldn’t keep up with Jackson’s conversations, jumping from one topic to the next, let alone the time they tried to work out together and Jackson had to be reminded of the definition of jogging. Jin-hyung had refused to set him up with any of his coworkers, citing that Jackson was too nice and sweet for the grumpy men in his kitchen, but of course Kim Seokjin thought everyone who didn’t undercook his sirloins or overcook his pasta was too nice and sweet. Instead Jin-hyung made tea and baked fresh cookies whenever Jackson showed up at his and Namjoon’s apartment to complain about being alone and unhappy forever--  _ all because of his mother. _

On this particular day, Jin didn’t say anything when he opened the door to find Jackson Wang on his doorstep, slumped against his doorframe and… not pouting persay. The younger only pouted when he was in trouble or trying to look cute. No, this was something else. Jin ushered him in, plopping him down on their living room couch with a blanket and departing to make tea with a soft kiss to Jackson’s forehead. Perhaps sulking was a better term, he thought while digging through their cabinets to find Jackson’s favorite. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, blowing gently on his own mug after setting Jackson’s into eager hands (sweater paws) with a warning. 

Jackson, a bit like a petulant child, just shook his head. He’d been out with a guy from work the night before, a guy who was fairly quiet and sweet and the epitome of a ‘nice boy’-- and as of this morning, he’d decided that he just wasn’t looking for a relationship right now but he thought their friendship would be just as valuable. So Jackson was allowing himself to brood because he’d gotten his hopes up. Again.

“Hyung,” He whined after Jin refused to continue trying to draw him into conversation. “Why isn’t anybody excited anymore? I’ve been out with dancers and musicians and artists and none of them are excited about anything and they’re definitely not excited about me.”

It was the same complaint as always, possibly worded a little differently here and there but it retained the same focus, Jin though. Jackson just simply couldn’t find anybody with enough energy to satisfy him, not even on a conversational basis. Few people could balance out the endless ball of energy that was Jackson Wang. 

“How do you know they aren’t excited? Maybe they are but they just show it in different ways.” Jackson just huffed.

“You haven’t been out with the guys I’ve been dating. They don’t… they talk and I talk and-- hyung, I make sure to let them talk just as much as I do because I talk a lot. But I can feel that they’d rather be somewhere else every time. Like I’m not good enough to give an hour of their time to.” 

“I’m sure that’s not it.” Jin offered weakly. Namjoon would be home soon and usually all Jin had to do was make the tea. He didn’t know Jackson quite as well so he didn’t know how to respond to his insecurities like Joonie did. 

“Well what else could it be? Jin-hyung, you think I’m interesting right? Maybe I’m not interesting to any of them.”

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right guy. Like in the movies, you’ll know when you do!” He patted Jackson’s knee from the other side of the couch, smiling encouragingly. 

“So I’m just supposed to know?” He asked incredulously, sipping out of his mug slowly because it was something to do other than keeping that stupid frown on his face. He didn’t like it. 

“Yeah, you’re just supposed to know. Like me and Joonie, you’ll feel this… this energy.” Jin tried not to get that dopey, far-off look in his eyes and Jackson could tell. He failed, staring into his tea like he was meeting Namjoon all over again, but Jackson appreciated the effort.

Still, he let out a full-fledged pout and mumbled something about “But I  _ am  _ the energy, I don’t think there can be any more energy in me.”

Namjoon got home-- thankfully-- and Jin departed to start working on dinner with one final pat to Jackson’s head as the younger man smiled for the first time since he’d entered the apartment.

“Jin’s right, like usual. You just gotta wait until you find the right one. I can try and set you up with somebody if you want.” Jackson mumbled something about how if he was supposed to just  _ know _ shouldn’t he go into a club or a crowd and just wait, but agreed anyway. 

  


And that’s how he got roped into dinner the following Friday at a Korean restaurant run by “a lovely Thai woman and her son” that Seokjin knew. Ironically, he wasn’t particularly excited, not like usual. He dressed in a simple white button down with a black blazer and jeans, no more formal than most of his dates. He was supposed to meet the guy around 6:00 at the restaurant but Namjoon told him the guy might be a little late-- but Namjoon wouldn’t tell him why. In fact, Namjoon starkly refused to tell him anything about the guy because Namjoon didn’t want his own “arbitrary evaluations” to “cloud Jackson’s field of view.” Jackson had whined and begged and poked at the slightly younger man, but here he was sitting in a restaurant waiting for a nameless, faceless stranger to sweep him off his feet. He’d even tried to get Jin to spill what he knew, but all Jin would tell him was that his mystery man was thin and taller than him (not that being taller than him was much of an accomplishment). 

Taller than him, skinny. Jackson had gotten a table positioned near the front entrance so his date, who hopefully knew more about him, might be able to spot him coming into the restaurant. The waitress dropped off a menu and Jackson politely told her he was waiting for someone before ordering. She giggled and nodded and he had to admit, the nervous energy-- excited but nervous-- was returning as his apprehension about finding ‘the one’ melted away. 

Excited but nervous turned to less excited and more nervous as 45 minutes passed, alone. But Namjoon had said he’d be late for some unknown reason and Jackson was content to just wait. Besides, what else would he be doing tonight other than watching TV or working on his routines until the night staff kicked him out. 

At 7:15, he sent a text to Namjoon asking if he’d heard anything from the mystery date because “the guy still isn’t here??? Who tf did you set me up with Kim Namjoon??” He knew his friend would be on a date, dinner and a movie, that and he wouldn’t have his phone or Jin-hyung would kill him for not enjoying their time together. Jackson didn’t blame him, he hadn’t planned on being on his phone either. 

The waitstaff kept sending him sympathetic looks and it was starting to get embarrassing, to the point that ‘what else would I be doing tonight’ didn’t seem like a valid excuse to stay. A while ago, someone had dropped off a glass of water and two menus, even though he was still alone. “Just in case,” she’d mumbled, smiling softly as he thanked her before slipping away. God, it was awkward. He didn’t do awkward, he talked himself right out of awkward situations. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that talking to himself would just make the situation more awkward. 

8:00, that was his cut-off. He decided that 8:00 was an unreasonable time to eat and maybe this guy had just mixed up the day they were supposed to meet. He’d force the guy’s number out of Namjoon and they’d work another day out and it would be fine. And then at exactly 7:42, with his 18% battery dripping away slowly as he tried to distract himself with some stupid game, the front door opened.

Taller than him. Skinny. 

Jackson didn’t know if it was his empty stomach, his crushed pride, or simply the fact that genetics had been good to this guy, but he was pretty sure he glimpsed a red-haired angel (even better, dyed red, which made Jackson feel less weird about his bleached blonde hair). He looked tired, probably from whatever work Namjoon had said might keep him late, and a little apprehensive like every other blind date Jackson had been on. His eyes landed on Jackson and his empty table as he moved closer, and that was all the indication Jackson needed. 

All his excitement and energy came rushing back as he pushed out his chair and stood up, moving into his date’s space just a little. 

“Hi, wow, I didn’t think you were going to come. I’m Jackson. I’d like to say Namjoon has told me about you but he wouldn’t tell me anything.” He said, trying to keep the edge of annoyance out of his voice and holding out his hand for the other to shake.

“Yeah, I’m Mark. Look, I think-” 

Hmm, Mark. It fit the man, Jackson thought. He still looked nervous and Jackson snuck a glance at one of the wall-mounted clocks. Mark was really late. Really, really late. Almost two hours late and he probably felt bad about it, Jackson thought as he looked at his date’s uncomfortable gaze on him.

“Let’s sit down, okay? Tell me a little about yourself because, like I said, Namjoon didn’t tell me anything.” He insisted with a gentle expression, sliding back into his chair.

“About that, I don’t really… know Namjoon.” Mark’s apparent anxiety was making Jackson nervous by proximity, and Jackson fell right into his usual routine for dispelling his nervousness-- talking.  

“Really? Well, he said you were a good guy and he didn’t say much else. You know, he’s kind of philosophical about everything, he said it wouldn’t be good if I knew anything about you. Truly blind dates, no preconceptions means no misconceptions or something, I don’t really know. But I’m glad we’re doing this I guess.” Rambling. He was rambling but he didn’t care because Mark was nodding along with him, leaning forward a little on the table. The waitress skipped over, grinning at Jackson who couldn’t help but beam back, a bit shy as she took their orders. Mark knew exactly what he wanted and Jackson just picked something at random that sounded fairly good because no matter how many times he’d read the menu while waiting, he couldn’t seem to remember what he’d decided on earlier. He couldn’t really focus on anything. 

The waitress, thankfully, forgot to take the menus when she left and Jackson picked one up, going through the items. 

“I haven’t been here before, actually. Namjoon’s boyfriend suggested the place. He said the Bhuwakul family is full of great cooks and that the food is amazing here. Namjoon probably told you that though. He talks about Jin-hyung all the time, it’s cute.”

Mark nodded along as Jackson started describing the dishes, some of which sounded similar to things Jackson’s mother made when he was a child. He teased that the food could never be better than hers, though a couple of dishes substituted cauliflower for broccoli and that was a bold choice because--

“Jackson... Jackson? Jackson.” To be honest, he didn’t know how many times Mark had to say his name before he actually paid attention. 

“Jackson,” Mark began again, but his tone was firm and it made Jackson want to smack himself because here he was, jumping from topic to topic trying to entice Mark in to some kind of conversation and instead he’d steamrolled any chance for a second date by being overbearing or scatterbrained or  _ something--  _ he’d messed up again, like always.

“Is something wrong? Am I talking too much?” He ventured. 

“Yes!” He’d known it, of course, but he hadn’t been expecting Mark to say it outright like that. He probably deserved it though.

“No, no, you’re not talking too much it’s just… Okay. I don’t know Namjoon- No! Stop, let me explain.” Jackson clamped his lips shut, nodding.

“Jackson. You seem like a great guy, a really great guy, but I don’t know anybody named Namjoon. Also, I’m not here because I was set up on a blind date. I don’t generally dress like this for dates.” 

There was a significant pause as Jackson let all that sink in. He was… trying to date some innocent guy who just wanted to what, pick up food and eat in peace? He was aggressively trying to date this guy because Mark looked interesting and sweet and  _ god he was cute too.  _ Jackson should have known, Mark hadn’t spoken in the whole half an hour he was rambling about organic vegetables and-- oh god, broccoli. 

“I am… so sorry. I had no idea, I haven’t given you two seconds to talk have I? I’m sorry, you weren’t meeting anybody here, were you? You didn’t have plans?” He rushed out when he got ahold of himself, leaning forward on to the table and pouting a little-- the trying-to-look-cute one that didn’t involve him sulking bitterly. 

“No, nobody. I was actually just coming to get food. Alone.”. 

Jackson nodded, dropping his hands into his lap. “Oh, okay. Eating alone can be fun, I guess. Peace and quiet, I guess I interrupted all of that.” Peace and quiet, with him around? Yeah right, he wasn’t at all what Mark was planning for the evening. Too bad, because Mark seemed to be just what he was looking for.

“It’s okay, really. No harm, no foul. Do you, uh, want to call your date then? Make sure he’s okay?”   
“I will later, I think I’m just going to grab take out and go home. This has been…” He trailed off and Mark looked... disappointed? It was odd. Here he was, sort of pining after a guy he’d forced to sit through his semi-conversational ramblings and he knew nothing about him. He didn’t know if he was gay, single, interested-- nothing. The only thing he did know what that he, Jackson Wang, _was_ gay, single, and very, very interested. 

“Oh.” was all he got in response from the red head, and he paused as Mark looked back down at his hands, as if there was something he wanted to say. Jackson forced himself to let the silence sit between them in hopes it would actually draw Mark into the conversation for the first time all night. Jackson knew he talked a lot, he had a lot to say. That was one thing he would never apologize for, but he was aware of when he needed to stop dominating the conversation. If there was one thing Jackson could pick out in a situation, it was when somebody had something bottled up or bothering them. He had the uncanny ability to drag those things out of people, or so he’d been told.

“What did I order?” 

More than a bit surprised, Jackson told him. “I’ve had it here, it’s really good, but I’m sure you could still change it.” He said, glancing over his shoulder towards the kitchen. 

“No, no it’s fine. That’s what I usually get here I just…” Mark’s eyes fell on Jackson’s phone and Jackson wanted to reach down and turn it off, to slide it into his pocket or throw it out the damn window, whatever would show Mark that he had Jackson’s attention if he wanted it. 

A shy smile, teeth grazing over Mark’s bottom lip, the leftover tension in the air dissipating. Something filled the air, drawing Jackson to lean in like a magnet-- like a wave of energy humming between them, and Jackson felt himself settle. No more hyperactivity, no more buzzing nerves-- Mark seemed to even perk up a bit as he spoke

“Would you like to have dinner with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought!! <3
> 
>  
> 
> [Tumblr](http://yijeong-you-little-shit.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought!! Your comments give me life <3
> 
>  
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr](http://yijeong-you-little-shit.tumblr.com)


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